


one single thread of gold tied me to you

by idontreallylikebutterflies (Laulerelelere)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Early Mornings, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25740319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laulerelelere/pseuds/idontreallylikebutterflies
Summary: Essek's mornings have been much less chaotic since they moved away from the Nein. Back then, even when Caleb stayed at his place someone would come barging in, having forgotten where Caleb was supposed to be, or needing him for an emergency meeting.It's still weird when he opens his eyes in the morning and Caleb is not by his side.
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 19
Kudos: 163





	one single thread of gold tied me to you

Essek's mornings have been much less chaotic since they moved away from the Nein. Back then, even when Caleb stayed at his place someone would come barging in, having forgotten where Caleb was supposed to be, or needing him for an emergency meeting. 

Essek misses it, from time to time, usually only until Jester visits again and he has to clean up after her mess, find the drawn dicks that are now scattered around their house. 

It's still weird when he opens his eyes in the morning and Caleb is not by his side, the house completely silent. There's usually the noise of breakfast being made, or books being moved around their library or, more often, just the sound of slow breathing right by his side. 

He passes the door to their study on the way to the living room, thankful for the fact that they don't have a tower and he can just look around in a second. He finds it empty. The living room, too. Even the kitchen is empty, and Essek starts making his way towards the garden when he hears a noise coming from the ceiling. 

He sends a message with some wire on his hand, amused. "What are you doing on the roof?"

"We have a leak, I'm fixing it." 

Essek puts the conversation on hold while he walks outside the house, and then back inside, remembering some of his boyfriend's worst habits and grabbing his cardigan and two cups of tea. It's still quite early in the morning, the sun barely up, and Essek will feel less grumpy that he's being deprived of a morning in bed with his partner with a hot beverage between his hands.

"You know," Essek says once he has made his way up to the roof, using the ladder next to the door. "I thought we agreed that I would be the one dealing with any tasks around the house that were dangerous because of the height at which we would need to be to work on them. I don't have your perfect memory, but I remember very well asking you to let me do those."

Caleb has his hair on the same braid it was on last night, still in his pajamas. He barely looks up, a nail between his lips, which Essek softly whips away as he sits down next to him. "I remember telling you that while you float, I can fly, and that the conversation wasn't over just because you started kissing me to distract me."

"That's not what happened," Essek lies. "And you need six seconds to polymorph! By then you'd already be on the floor." 

"Which brings me to my next point, which is that I've fallen from greater heights and been alright." Essek can't refute that, but before he can think of a way of keeping the argument alive, Caleb asks, "Is that for me?" 

Essek looks at Caleb's orange mug on his hand. "Yes. But only if you put this on," he offers him the cardigan, and Caleb puts it on with a resigned expression. 

"It's not that cold."

Essek doesn't even dignify that with an answer, instead looking back at Caleb's work on the leak. "I should be the one doing this."

"Have you ever worked on fixing a roof before?" 

He hasn't, and Caleb knows it. Caleb has met his parents, has been to the house where Essek grew up. He knows that Essek fixes most things with magic when he can, not with manual work. 

"I'm a fast learner." 

"I know you are, darling." Caleb kisses his lips, softly. "I just wanted to get this done quickly. Veth is coming to visit today, and she is bringing the kids. I didn't want it to rain on us and cause a mess inside the house. I can get this done in a second." 

"Okay," Essek relents. "You still should have woken me up. Waking up alone in our bed with you nowhere to be found is a very unpleasant experience." 

"Our house is literally two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. How hard could it be to realise where I was?" 

"The length of time of the search doesn't deny the unpleasantness of it." 

Caleb laughs, just a chuckle, his work on the roof almost done by now, but his tea still untouched. "Do you ever want to move?" He asks, suddenly.

Essek stops, almost frowning at the question. "What made you think that?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering. You grew up in places bigger than this one, even though I did not. And I know that we came here when you were literally running away from your government, so we didn't have much to choose from, but…"

He trails off, a small shrug on his shoulders as he puts his tools down. "Just a question, really." 

It sounds nervous, just slightly, but Essek can picture a secret dangling right before his nose, calling to him. "Do you want a tower?" He asks, the first thing that crosses his mind.

"What? No, I like them but not really. It was just—"

"Are you unhappy having to work on fixing so many small problems?"

"The problems wouldn't go away in a bigger house. I just wanted to know your opinion."

He's still nervous, a hand now on the pocket of his pants, then out, fast, but not delicately enough that Essek doesn't see—

"I love our house, with its hidden dicks and its leaking roof." Essek slowly moves his hand on top of Caleb's knee. "And the place we live in has nothing to do with me saying yes to your proposal."

Caleb looks stunned for a second, two, and then barks out a laugh, louder than he usually lets himself be. "That obvious, ja?"

"Well, your pajama pants do a poor job of disguising the ring box. You didn't want to leave it down there in case I found it?"

"No, though I guess it backfired." 

"Don't worry, dear," he presses his lips against Caleb's cheek. "I'll still let you propose to me." 

"How magnanimous of you." Caleb's head turns just so, just enough that their lips meet, and he slaps his hand away when Essek tries to mischievously take the box out of his pocket. 

Essek loves every single one of his mornings. 

**Author's Note:**

> you see, i have four or five works i'm writing right now. a shadowgast at the beaujester wedding fic, a college au, an exes au, a "writing letters to each other" au. all of them +2000 words and just sitting there. and what do i finish? a 1000 word soft one-shot at four am. okay. sure.
> 
> thank you for reading! if you're interested in any of the fics i mentioned above, make sure to subscribe to me so you get notified when i finish them. leave kudos/a comment if you enjoyed this!


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